Efficient Photo-induced Second Harmonic Generation in Ternary Barium Borosilicate and Pure Binary Lead-silicate Glasses

Abstract

Most studies of photo-induced efficient second harmonic generation (SHG) in bulk glass systems are currently being performed with commercial glasses which are highly impure. The existence of impurities, even trace amounts, can significantly affect the photo-induced SHG characteristics in glasses as demonstrated in experiments performed on Ce-doped lead germanate glasses [1]. In fact, it was shown that Ce concentration as low as 0.2% was enough to cause a significant increase in SHG in these glasses. Therefore, it is advantageous to study glass systems that are devoid of impurities and consistent in composition in order to gain a better insight into the role of the glass matrix in photo-induced SHG. In a series of experiments performed by Dianov, et al [2], the effect of PbO concentration on SHG was studied using commercial lead-silicate glasses with different lead-oxide concentrations. They found a peaked correlation between lead concentration and SHG power at approximately 21 mol % PbO. However, the effects due to the presence of impurities and variations in composition in different lead-silicate glasses were not addressed. In this study, we measured compositional dependence on SHG characteristics on pure binary lead-silicate and pure ternary barium borosilicate glass systems.